I was surprised when the Dcotor let Solomon die because of how merciful he has been in the past describing himself as the man who "never would" (Thoth b fair that was the tenth doctor). I remember a trailer from the third episode where the doctor shows how his mercy has waned and why so I like that this is a development that will be explored rather than be confined to this episode.

A good recap, and a good episode. While it wasn't as intense as last weeks it was a good sci-fi romp, and we get to see some dinosaurs which the Doctor doesn't meet often enough. The last ones I remember, off hand, were...

The ninth doctor went ape ---t over one dalek in the episode of that title so he's been kind of schizophrenic all along. not to mention what he does to the aliens who force him to become human. that was just brutal.

The moment I saw Mark Williams as Rory's dad I just said: YES! It's just one of those pairings that makes so much sense.

In New Who, however, the Doctor's murderous inclinations - or at least his reaction to them - fluctuate. Sometimes he regrets being the deathly decision maker, other times he's practically gleeful to wield the axe.

This is very much a bone of contention for me. David Tennant's 10th Doctor started to wear on me by series 4 with his self righteous, no-gun policy. He'd wave his pacifistic nature around like some sort of banner which said "I'm better than you" and not in a good way. Add to the mixture his "daughter" who gleefully shouts something along the lines of: "Look dad! I could have killed them all, but I didn't!" Seriously?

Say what you like about Christopher Ecclestone's "northern" Doctor but I thought he had potential. He played a man whose wounds were still fresh, who suffered survivor guilt and harboured a deep-seated hatred that could match even the Daleks themselves. It was a far stretch from those times during "Genesis of the Daleks" where the 4th Doctor wrestled with the notion of wiping out the Daleks forever, only to falter and allow time to run its course.

I think this is why Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor is my favourite, certainly in the later episodes of his run anyway. I loved the darkness that seemed to linger beneath his philosophic brooding, the way he always seemed to know more than everyone else but was never so arrogant that he needed to show it. Plus he wasn't above playing with Ace's mind and putting her in horrifying situations simply to see her reaction, see "Ghost Light."

Vault Citizen:I was surprised when the Dcotor let Solomon die because of how merciful he has been in the past describing himself as the man who "never would" (Thoth b fair that was the tenth doctor). I remember a trailer from the third episode where the doctor shows how his mercy has waned and why so I like that this is a development that will be explored rather than be confined to this episode.

Yeah, Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor is a hell of a lot more ruthless than Tennant's Tenth. Way I see it, Ten tried to be a pacifist by confining his negative emotions a lot, which meant when he did lose it he'd wreak utter havoc (see Family of Blood, Waters of Mars, Runaway Bride...). Eleven is a lot more comfortable using that anger, which can lead to some unsettling shifts as he switches between the two subtly (see A Christmas Carol where you're not quite sure if he's threatening Kazran Sardick, and Eleventh Hour where he browbeats the Atraxi), and also means he's a bit more lenient about dishing out some payback but also slightly less destructive when he does

Also, why no mention of the robots in the article They were voiced by Robert Webb and David Mitchell, it was like Peep Show...IN SPAAAAAAAACE!

One of the big points about the Silurians you don't cover is WHY they are under ground all over the place. As revealed in Doctor Who and the Silurians:

The Silurians were running the planet millions of years ago, with dinosaurs at their command, and being bothered by mammal ape pests. But then an object headed for the planet, the Silurians panicked, and went underground.And now, it seems, sent a ship off, even through we haven't seen any other space ship faring technology...Anyway the object didn't hit the planet, but instead took up orbit... and became the moon. Yep, that's where that moon thing came from. (And yes, people have been trying to fit that fact into our science since... but, hey, the DW universe isn't our one!)Their hibernation chambers were to reactivate after the moon vanished, but they didn't, so Silurians are still around in the chambers until such time as humans keep awakening them.

Oh, and Harry was brought in because they weren't expecting Tom Baker to be cast and be so active. Harry was supposed to take the action role, but clearly the Doctor was up for it, so he was written out.

I was actually kinda happy that The Doctor let Soloman die. For The Doctor to show him mercy after everything he'd done would've been stupid and naive as hell. Actually that's what I like most about this Doctor. Throughout the episodes we see him act all whimsical and fascinated and whatnot, yet we almost always see the issues underneath all that. You can tell he's lonely, you can tell that he doesn't really tolerate despicable people and so on and I think that that's fantastic about this particular Doctor.

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

12th and final incarnations, so it's a ways off yet...if it's going to be addressed.

I like this Doctor's morality, it's clear that while he is actually fascinated by the universe and curious as a newborn babe he knows what is going on and doesn't really hesitate to stop, kill or imprison things which could be of serious harm to him or others where he can. I like that there's been this sort of continuity with the Doctor's morality and feeling of godhood/power as well, a progression as the Doctors roll on and they face new experiences...

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

If that happened that would be awesome bit of story planning. Doubt it but would love to see that.That being said. I loved the part at the end with Mr. Weasley sitting at the door to the TARDIS eating lunch and just watching the Earth. Just an excellent shot.

Also, there were various things that reminded me of Douglas Adams writing. The two bumbling robots, Mr. Weasley has his towel, little things like that.

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

If that happened that would be awesome bit of story planning. Doubt it but would love to see that.That being said. I loved the part at the end with Mr. Weasley sitting at the door to the TARDIS eating lunch and just watching the Earth. Just an excellent shot.

Also, there were various things that reminded me of Douglas Adams writing. The two bumbling robots, Mr. Weasley has his towel, little things like that.

Ahhh Shada, it would have been pretty good I think. It was certainly pretty good as Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency when combined with City of Death. I liked the Douglas Adams episodes, some don't but I do, particularly The Pirate Planet.

I liked Harry, certainly one of the better companions. At least he was lucky enough to be written with some consistency, unlike a lot of others (looking at you Rose and Martha, poor Freema Agyeman).

The problem i have with New-Who, especially under Moffat, is it can't even keep to it's own continuity. Things have improved in other ways from the high camp and somtimes borderline stupidity of the R.T.Davis days but they STILL keep pulling Darlek Fleets out of their ass.

Yes i know this isn't really about EP2 but EP1 really dropped a bollock... again. Does no-one remember the point of the Dareks?

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

If that happened that would be awesome bit of story planning. Doubt it but would love to see that.That being said. I loved the part at the end with Mr. Weasley sitting at the door to the TARDIS eating lunch and just watching the Earth. Just an excellent shot.

Also, there were various things that reminded me of Douglas Adams writing. The two bumbling robots, Mr. Weasley has his towel, little things like that.

It was novelized recently, by the same guy who did "The Shakespeare Code" in 2007, "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2008, "The Lodger" in 2010 and "Closing Time" in 2011.

Proverbial Jon:The moment I saw Mark Williams as Rory's dad I just said: YES! It's just one of those pairings that makes so much sense.

In New Who, however, the Doctor's murderous inclinations - or at least his reaction to them - fluctuate. Sometimes he regrets being the deathly decision maker, other times he's practically gleeful to wield the axe.

This is very much a bone of contention for me. David Tennant's 10th Doctor started to wear on me by series 4 with his self righteous, no-gun policy. He'd wave his pacifistic nature around like some sort of banner which said "I'm better than you" and not in a good way. Add to the mixture his "daughter" who gleefully shouts something along the lines of: "Look dad! I could have killed them all, but I didn't!" Seriously?

Say what you like about Christopher Ecclestone's "northern" Doctor but I thought he had potential. He played a man whose wounds were still fresh, who suffered survivor guilt and harboured a deep-seated hatred that could match even the Daleks themselves. It was a far stretch from those times during "Genesis of the Daleks" where the 4th Doctor wrestled with the notion of wiping out the Daleks forever, only to falter and allow time to run its course.

I think this is why Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor is my favourite, certainly in the later episodes of his run anyway. I loved the darkness that seemed to linger beneath his philosophic brooding, the way he always seemed to know more than everyone else but was never so arrogant that he needed to show it. Plus he wasn't above playing with Ace's mind and putting her in horrifying situations simply to see her reaction, see "Ghost Light."

But you know what was better about the 9th doctor? He wanted to save people, he wanted to save everyone. If he had to kill then that was a sorry part of it. The 10th doctor seemed much more willing to kill and saving people was the afterthought, an end result but 10 would dwell on killing.

That triumphant shout of "Just this once, EVERYBODY LIVES!" at the end of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances two parter defined the ninth doctor, he couldn't save the Time Lords, but he rejoiced in every moment where he could save others.

Re-Watching the new series from the beginning has really shown something.

The Ninth Doctor suffers severe PTSD having just emerged from a place where he has annihilated two species including his own. He has a relapse of terrors when he sees the Darlek the trophy hunter finds and is terrified till he realises that it is broken where upon he gloats and spitefully vents his anger at it. He then proceeds, shortly after, to try and destroy it because if it survives he knows what it will do; the only thing it is mentally capable of. Should the Dalek survive it cheapens the large scale sacrifice and genocide laying heavily on his memory. He also shows a large streak of surviver guilt and avoidence, at the start of the series he completely evades any question of where he is from or what he has done. He is very much true neutral. He wants adventure in space without any responsability so he can forget the terrible things he has been made to do.Quote: "You can't just swan off!" "Yes I can. This is me swanning off"

The Tenth Doctor became a law unto himself. He has already carried out judgement that two entire species could not be allowed to live, why should he allow a handful of hostile creatures to continue to harm the place he killed his own species to save? Such a judgement would seem a small step compared to agonising decision to conclude the Time War. He is slipping, becoming sociopathic. He becomes Judge, Jury and Executioner of the entire universe. Do anything he personally does not like or harm those he likes and woe unto you regardless of the law. He is very unstable, the image of him standing with hate in his eyes bringing down the ocean on the spider queen is very representative of the later Tenth.

Quote: The Doctor: For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not. I'm the winner! That's who I am: the Time Lord Victorious!Adelaide: And there's no one to stop you...The Doctor: No!Adelaide: [disgusted] This is wrong, Doctor! I don't care who you are: the Time Lord Victorious is wrong!The Doctor: [arrogantly] That's for me to decide.

The Eleventh doctor at first was shown pulling back from the homicidal sociopathy of the Tenth, he is shown...old. He is old. He just wants some nice things before he dies, he's lost too many companions, made too many sacrifices, his self appointed role has turned into a heavy weight around his neck. His stories become more personal, he will not let anything happen to Amy or Rory because he can't bear to lose any more friends. He turns into a bit of a lawful psychopath, becoming more stable. There are rules and you will obey them or you will be MADE to obey them.

Quote: "The question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and you new paradigm into eternity."

Somebody other than me must have been repulsed by that. It's just so unnecessary.

I'm sorry, I don't know what that is. Can you tell me?

The 2 robots were voiced by David Mitchell and Robert Webb who are rather famous comedians over here. I don't know why it irritates me, they were pretty good. It just seemed such a token effort. Though I'm watching the next episode right now and I find the Ben Browder cameo just ridiculawesome.

Roganzar:Also, there were various things that reminded me of Douglas Adams writing. The two bumbling robots, Mr. Weasley has his towel, little things like that.

Daveman:The 2 robots were voiced by David Mitchell and Robert Webb who are rather famous comedians over here. I don't know why it irritates me, they were pretty good. It just seemed such a token effort.

And, of course, not the first time a comedy duo has been in Doctor Who. Back in the last story of the seventh Doctor, Survival, Hale and Pace (famous comedian pair of the time) made an appearance (although not as robots).

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

No chance, he has disregarded the classic series and swept aside most of the continuity. I'd like to return to the old continuity, but it won't happen.

What?

Who do you...? Where did you...? What makes you think...? What is this, I don't even...

If you'd bothered to pay close attention, you'd notice in various inside looks and whatnot that the developers chose to continue from the original series, rather than simply rebooting it. And if it where a reboot, then how would you explain the video cameos of the Doctor's earlier forms before Nine? This was painfully, painfully obvious in The Eleventh Hour. So obvious, that it was a plot point! How do you miss these things!?

I got the chance to talk Doctor Who with Susan in person yesterday. It was awesome! :D

Anyway...

...normal bloke who just happened to be a bit of a ham-fisted idiot when it came to the whole traveling-in-time-and-space deal.

That's a bit unfair, Rory stated back in series 5 that after Prisoner Zero, he read up about space and time theories and what not. Obviously that doesn't make him an expert but all humans are going to be "ham-fisted idiots" when dealing with time travel unless they are NASA scientists.

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

No chance, he has disregarded the classic series and swept aside most of the continuity. I'd like to return to the old continuity, but it won't happen.

How so? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that has been drastically messed with is the removal of the limit on regenerations and that was Russell T Davies who wrote that episode of SJA, not Moffat.

TimeLord:I got the chance to talk Doctor Who with Susan in person yesterday. It was awesome! :D

Anyway...

...normal bloke who just happened to be a bit of a ham-fisted idiot when it came to the whole traveling-in-time-and-space deal.

That's a bit unfair, Rory stated back in series 5 that after Prisoner Zero, he read up about space and time theories and what not. Obviously that doesn't make him an expert but all humans are going to be "ham-fisted idiots" when dealing with time travel unless they are NASA scientists.

Maybe Motiff is able to pull his head of of his poorly thought up arse and make the 11th's fall lead into this creatures' creation.

No chance, he has disregarded the classic series and swept aside most of the continuity. I'd like to return to the old continuity, but it won't happen.

How so? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that has been drastically messed with is the removal of the limit on regenerations and that was Russell T Davies who wrote that episode of SJA, not Moffat.

Where the flaming donkey bollocks is Susan? The Doctors grand daughter. The doctor has family, being Susan, everytime he mumbles about "being lonely" I think WHY NOT VISIT HER!

Evil Smurf:Where the flaming donkey bollocks is Susan? The Doctors grand daughter. The doctor has family, being Susan, everytime he mumbles about "being lonely" I think WHY NOT VISIT HER!

Did you not notice the whole 'Time War' thing that keeps cropping up? The thing that is stated to have wiped out pretty much all the Time Lords. Think that might have something to do with her disappearance?Its not like she's been retconned out of existence either, the Doctor has mentioned several times that he did have family in the past. But they're gone now

Must say I just started watching Doctor Who this week. This article was quite helpful explaining some of the things I felt I was missing. Like when the show paused because I was clearly supposed to be gasping in suspense. So far I think I have only seen 3-4 episodes, no idea the names, but it was about a flat that had an upstairs that people never came back from. Going back in time to kill Hitler (which seems to be some very important episode with this new lady being revealed, no idea who she is, other then what was said during the episode). This Dinosaur Ship one, and I think one more.

Can anyone tell me where I should start on netflix to get the main story I need for this seasons upcoming episodes.

Mouse_Crouse:Must say I just started watching Doctor Who this week. This article was quite helpful explaining some of the things I felt I was missing. Like when the show paused because I was clearly supposed to be gasping in suspense. So far I think I have only seen 3-4 episodes, no idea the names, but it was about a flat that had an upstairs that people never came back from. Going back in time to kill Hitler (which seems to be some very important episode with this new lady being revealed, no idea who she is, other then what was said during the episode). This Dinosaur Ship one, and I think one more.

Can anyone tell me where I should start on netflix to get the main story I need for this seasons upcoming episodes.

If you just want to understand this season, I'd advise just going back and either watching Matt Smith from the beginning, or just watching last season if you're short on time.

Once these first five episodes are done and we have another break, start back with Eccleston and watch all the new stuff. You'll then have enough knowledge to really get the show without searching around for the old stuff.